


Home

by Zephyros22



Series: Arc One: Valkyrie Chronicles [2]
Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Homesickness, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-03-02 13:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zephyros22/pseuds/Zephyros22
Summary: Amelia longs for that which she cannot have(Takes place after 'Chase')





	Home

"I cant remember the last time I had a meal that good" Kaiden sighed happily, patting his stomach. The flames of the fire danced off his dark skin and cast his eyes in a golden glow. "I feel like I could sleep for a week right here in front of the fire"

Amelia smiled at her companion, propping her chin on a hand. "You can sleep here for a week, but you'll have to catch up with the rest of us when we leave in the morning."

Kaiden looked up suddenly, hair falling into his panicked eyes. "No way, you guys wouldn't leave me, would you?"

Saria laughed and tugged her shawl closer around her shoulders. "Depends if you sleep as late as you do during the winter" she teased. "Like a little bear cub curled up in a cave for days at a time."

Vito barked a laugh and ruffled Kaiden's dark tresses. "He's still growing" he pointed out. "Growing boys like us need our food and rest."

Saria's lips tugged into a lopsided grin. "Oh? You're growing too, Vito? I would have mistaken you for older."

Vito's eyes sparkled as he glanced over at the magician. "Truly? Then, pray tell, how old do I seem to you?"

Saria exchanged a look with Kaiden next to her, who was trying to hide the laughter in his eyes. She shrugged nonchalantly. "With the beard on your face, I would say you look more like an old man than a spry young boy."

Kaiden snorted beside his sister. "Should I start calling you 'grandfather', Vito?"

Vito sputtered indingnantly "I am not that old, mind you!"

"Maybe if you removed the strange growth from your face I'd be able to tell." Saria laughed in reply.

Kaiden held his stomach with laughter as the two began to bicker good naturedly. Amelia watched with a small smile from her spot next to the hearth. The heat of the fire seeped through her clothes and scorched the skin underneath in a way that was both warm and wonderful. Her hair fell over the hand she held her head on, bright green eyes observing the new companions she had acquired before her. Kaiden's laugh pitched high in the room, his bright smile resembling Vito's as the smithy pointed a fake accusatory finger at Saria, who only smirked in reply.

The sound of a crackling fire, warm blanket draped across her shoulders, and the laughter of friends brought back fond memories of the castle. If Amelia closed her eyes she could see Marie's bright blue eyes dancing with humor as her knights chattered in front of her.  
The more she considered it, the more her heart ached.

She stood suddenly, and three sets of eyes turned to her in surprise. 

"Don't mind me." she reassured. "I'm just going to get some fresh air."

Vito shrugged and turned back to Kaiden, mentioning something about archery. Kaiden replied enthusiastically as Amelia quietly slipped out the door, unaware of Saria's sideways glance.

\---

The fillies nickered softly as Amelia approached them. Her chestnut pushed and prodded the two grey fillies out of the way to make a bid for treats. Amelia withdrew a remaining apple half from her pocket and offered it to her steed, who gobbled it greedily. Amelia's finger traced the stripe down the fillie's face, soft hair brushing her touch. 

Seeing that there was no more treats to be found, the filly turned and made her way back to her pasture mates. Amelia watched as the small herd continued to graze and gather close together. The young knight folded her arms across the bar of the fence and leaned her head on her shoulder.

The meadow beyond the pasture swayed softly in the night breeze, moonlight dancing off wheat stalks and casting a blue glow over the landscape. In the distance Amelia could make out the familiar shapes of mountains. She knew that beyond these hills was the castle she had fled just days ago. She didn't have to close her eyes to imagine the spiraling towers that reached up to brush the clouds and the long hallways sparkling with cold sunlight. She could almost here the sound of familiar leather boots echoing on marble tile as she paced down corridors in search of a princess with shining blonde hair.

A phantom pain in her chest held her heart tight. Amelia let a sigh escape through her nose and directed her eyes to the stars. "I'm so far away from home." she couldn't help but think. She wanted nothing more at the moment than to climb aboard her filly and gallop through the night back to the castle inlaid in the mountains and the friends that awaited her safe return.

Without realizing it, Amelia's eyes began to smart with tears. The stars above blurred into wobbly pinpricks of light as Amelia tried desperately not to cry. 

"I want to go home." Her heart sang out.

"Amelia?" A voice startled her from her thoughts. The knight rubbed her eyes in a futile attempt to hide the tears. She turned to the person intruding her quiet but tumultuous thoughts.

"Oh, Saria." She replied softly, summoning a plastered smile. "Sorry, I must have gotten horse hair in my eyes or something."

Saria smiled softly and padded gently over to where Amelia leaned on the fence. She directed her gaze upwards, long dark hair falling away from her face. "The sky is beautiful tonight." She observed in hardly a whisper. 

Amelia instead chose to focus her eyes on the ground. "Yeah...it's pretty." She admitted. 

A long silence hung between them. Amelia tried to blink away tears that threatened to spill over to not much success. Saria's even, rhythmic breathing next to her seemed like the only constant thing in the world as her thoughts continued to spin.

"You're homesick" Saria stated simply, not taking her eyes off the stars.

Amelia nodded, giving a small affirmation. "Yeah...I am."

She leaned her head on her arms so Saria wouldn't see the silent tears that now spilled down her face. "I've just...never been so far away from home." Saria was silent next to her, simply allowing Amelia to speak as she pleased. 

Amelia swallowed a thick lump in her throat before speaking again. "I...want to go back." She admitted. "I know I can't. I know its impossible...but I just want to go home."

Saria was silent beside her, taking her eyes off the sky and placing a hand on Amelia's shoulder in a small gesture of sympathy. 

Amelia bit her lip to prevent a sob from bubbling up her throat. "It's not fair." She bit out. "I didn't do anything...! I took an oath to uphold justice and keep the innocent safe and this...this isn't right!" her voice cracked with a sob. "I wish this never happened! I want to go home and keep living a normal life. I didn't want this!"

She cried unrestrained now, hot tears slicking her cheeks and cracked sobs wracking her back. Saria's hand traced small circles on her shoulder as she let her friend cry. Her hazel eyes watched the younger woman sob softly at the fate that been handed to her. She was right in that she didn't deserve this. She had not done anything to have been handed such a foul sentence. For all her worries and tears, she should be all rights be happily fulfilling her role as an honored knight back in the castle where she belonged. 

Yet...

Amelia's sobs slowed to small hiccups, and after a moment she looked up at Saria with red rimmed eyes. Saria gazed down at her, brow creased in sadness over her friend's fate. Amelia sniffled and offered Saria a sad smile.

Saria closed her eyes for a moment, and then smiled back at Amelia. "It may not be fair." She began, voice low and melodic. "But without this fate, I would have never been able to meet you." Amelia'd smile changed into a look of surprise. Saria continued. "I never knew what it was like to have a home. I don't know the feeling of being homesick. Wherever I went, I was home because I had my family."

She reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Amelia's ear. The knight shivered under her touch. "I never had friends either. It was always just me and Kaiden alone against the world." She closed her eyes momentarily. "But then suddenly that changed, because fate intervened and gave me you." A soft, fond smile crossed her face. "In this strange confusing world, fate allowed me the chance to meet you. If that is not a blessing, I'm not sure what is."

Slowly, carefully, Saria slipped the hand that remained on Amelia's shoulder down her back and brought her into a warm embrace. Amelia stiffened at first, and the relaxed, clasping her hands on Saria's shoulders. "So for the meantime, if you feel alone and all by yourself, let us, let me be your home instead. Until the day where you can return to your princess, I will be here."

Amelia's face scrunched and she quickly hid it in Saria's shoulder as tears began to spill down her face once more. "Thank you" She managed in choked whisper. "Saria." The name was murmured in a soft sigh, like a breeze tickling bare skin on a summer day. "Thank you."

Saria reached up with a hand and stroked Amelia's red curls. "Everything will be resolved, my friend. I promise." she spoke softly in reply. Amelia nodded into her shoulder, tears wetting her friend's shirt.

The two stood in the moonlight, blue light decorating their figures that morphed into one shadow. The meadow was quiet save for the soft sound of sleepy nickering of the fillies and the breeze that wound through their hair. For this moment at least, they would find peace.

 

Vito watched the two from a window, arms crossed, frown tugging at his lips.


End file.
